US11401064B2 - Air transfer bag deflator - Google Patents
Air transfer bag deflator Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US11401064B2 US11401064B2 US16/103,961 US201816103961A US11401064B2 US 11401064 B2 US11401064 B2 US 11401064B2 US 201816103961 A US201816103961 A US 201816103961A US 11401064 B2 US11401064 B2 US 11401064B2
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- manifold
- valve
- airbags
- vacuum reservoir
- vacuum
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Active, expires
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Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B21/00—Packaging or unpacking of bottles
- B65B21/02—Packaging or unpacking of bottles in or from preformed containers, e.g. crates
- B65B21/14—Introducing or removing groups of bottles, for filling or emptying containers in one operation
- B65B21/16—Introducing or removing groups of bottles, for filling or emptying containers in one operation using gravity flow
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
- B65G47/00—Article or material-handling devices associated with conveyors; Methods employing such devices
- B65G47/74—Feeding, transfer, or discharging devices of particular kinds or types
- B65G47/90—Devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials
- B65G47/908—Devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials with inflatable picking-up means
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B21/00—Packaging or unpacking of bottles
- B65B21/02—Packaging or unpacking of bottles in or from preformed containers, e.g. crates
- B65B21/14—Introducing or removing groups of bottles, for filling or emptying containers in one operation
- B65B21/18—Introducing or removing groups of bottles, for filling or emptying containers in one operation using grippers engaging bottles, e.g. bottle necks
- B65B21/186—Inflatable grippers
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B39/00—Nozzles, funnels or guides for introducing articles or materials into containers or wrappers
- B65B39/02—Expansible or contractible nozzles, funnels, or guides
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
- B65G2201/00—Indexing codes relating to handling devices, e.g. conveyors, characterised by the type of product or load being conveyed or handled
- B65G2201/02—Articles
- B65G2201/0235—Containers
- B65G2201/0244—Bottles
Definitions
- This invention relates to an air transfer system for vertical loading an empty box.
- U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,709,536 and 4,835,946 cover an air transfer system for vertical load packers.
- the aforementioned patents describe a system using inflatable bladders or air bags to grip a grouping of articles, such as bottles, and transport them over an empty box. The bladders are then deflated and the bottles drop into the box.
- a case packing machine may include a transfer system for transporting groups of articles from a continuously-running infeed conveyor of the case packing machine to a case loading station.
- the article transport apparatus includes a reciprocating carriage having longitudinally extending airbags or bladders which are inflatable for gripping a group of articles to the carriage.
- the reciprocating carriage moves upstream to encompass a group of articles, and upon inflation of the bladders, the bladders grip the group of articles to the carriage.
- the carriage then moves downstream, and upon deflation of the bladders, deposits the group of articles at the loading station.
- a space free of articles, or gap is created temporarily on the infeed conveyor, through which a pivoting stop bar arrangement pivots upwardly from below the infeed conveyor to a position above the infeed conveyor for restraining the articles on the infeed conveyor.
- the pivoting stop bar arrangement restrains the articles on the infeed conveyor until the reciprocating carriage returns to grip another group of articles.
- Individual lane conveyors are provided between conveyor lane dividers which allow the conveyor lane dividers to be supported from lower portions thereof.
- the airbags are deflated with a source of vacuum. Simply opening the airbags to atmosphere is not good enough. The airbags must fully deflate and flatten rather than simply going slack. This allows the articles to drop quickly and in unison rather than dropping one by one. When articles are allowed to get ahead of one another, they may collide with one another in the box and cause a jam.
- the prior art airbags have traditionally been deflated using an air powered Venturi pump.
- Venturi pumps consume large amounts of compressed air. It takes from 5-10 compressor horsepower to run the existing systems.
- the air bags often don't deflate fast enough for all applications.
- some applications may require multiple cases or boxes with more air bags. Deflation speed problems are exacerbated in such applications.
- the present invention is directed to an air transfer system using a vacuum reservoir and a fast-acting diaphragm valve to deflate the airbags quicker.
- the system according to a preferred embodiment of this invention uses an electrically driven vacuum pump to maintain a vacuum on a reservoir.
- the vacuum pump preferably runs continuously to permit a smaller capacity and thus a smaller load and smaller footprint than the prior art systems.
- the prior art systems deflate the air bags directly.
- the subject invention using a reservoir permits continuous removal of air using a small capacity pump.
- the reservoir is preferably sized to remove all the air in the air bags and still maintain a vacuum to draw the air bags flat.
- FIG. 1A shows a front view of an airbag in an uninflated state around an article
- FIG. 1B shows a front view of the airbag in FIG. 1A in an inflated state around the article
- FIG. 2 is a schematic of an apparatus according to one preferred embodiment of the invention.
- FIGS. 1A and 1B show airbags 20 in an uninflated state and an inflated state, respectively.
- the articles 10 such as bottles shown in the figures, are moveable from a first loading position to a position over a box or carton where they are released upon deflation of the airbags 20 .
- FIG. 2 shows a schematic of a case packing apparatus for loading articles into a case 11 .
- the apparatus preferably includes two or more airbags 20 adapted to be positioned above the case 11 connected with respect to a vacuum reservoir 40 .
- the present apparatus is generally used in connection with a larger system summarized above that includes an infeed conveyor, or similar supply, and an outfeed conveyor, or similar transport, shown as reference numeral 12 in FIGS. 1A-1B .
- U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,709,539 and 4,835,946 describe such a larger system and are incorporated herein by reference.
- the subject system preferably further utilizes a vacuum pump 60 to maintain a vacuum on the vacuum reservoir 40 , as shown in FIG. 1 .
- the vacuum pump 60 is preferably electrically driven. Because the vacuum pump 60 runs continuously it can have a smaller capacity than the current Venturi pump. In the prior art systems, the Venturi pump deflates the bags directly. With the present invention, the vacuum reservoir 40 and the vacuum pump 60 may operate together to enable a small capacity pump that removes air continuously.
- the vacuum reservoir 40 is sized to remove all the air in the airbags 20 and still maintain a vacuum to suck the airbags 20 flat.
- the airbags 20 are preferably positioned in parallel with respect to each other and connected through a manifold 30 to maintain a balanced air/vacuum distribution among the several airbags 20 .
- the airbags 20 preferably comprise a fluid pressurizable bladder for engaging, upon inflation thereof, the sides of articles 20 , as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B .
- Airbags 20 are preferably constructed of fabric reinforced tubing having a slick surface finish, although any other suitable inflatable material could be used, such as rubber or the like.
- the airbags 20 are closed or sealed at one end and at an opposite end are connected to the manifold 30 .
- the manifold 30 connecting the airbags 20 is preferably configured to space and align the respective airbags 20 in a desired configuration and to provide a chamber within which the two or more airbags 20 may be inflated and deflated in a consistent manner.
- FIG. 2 shows an arrangement of five parallel airbags 20 connected with the manifold however any suitable arrangement of two or more airbags 20 is possible depending on the application.
- the vacuum reservoir 40 is preferably positioned in fluid communication with an outlet of the manifold 30 .
- the vacuum reservoir 40 is sized to permit evacuation of all airbags 20 in the system and still provide some additional vacuum following complete deflation.
- the vacuum reservoir 40 preferably includes a greater air volume than the manifold 30 .
- a supply 35 of compressed gas such as from a conventional air compressor, is additionally positioned in fluid communication with an inlet of the manifold 30 .
- the supply 35 is preferably of sufficient capacity to quickly inflate the airbags 20 on demand.
- a 100 psi compressor should be sufficient for many configurations of the current invention.
- a valve 50 is preferably connected between the vacuum reservoir 40 and the manifold 30 .
- the valve 50 comprises a fast-acting valve chosen for speed, flow rate and weight.
- the valve 50 preferably comprises a diaphragm valve.
- the valve 50 is used to drain the airbags 20 into the vacuum reservoir 40 .
- the valve 50 opens quickly and permits a high rate of flow, and is relatively small and lightweight.
- Other types of fast-acting valves including spool valves, ball valves and/or butterfly valves may be substituted for the diaphragm valve in certain applications.
- the valve 50 is preferably piloted through a solenoid valve 70 connected inline between the vacuum reservoir and the manifold 30 that controls inflation.
- the operating pressure of the airbags is around 5 psi.
- the airbags 20 are preferably inflated through the solenoid valve 70 using compressed air from the supply 35 at around 100 psi, a supply pressure similar to existing systems.
- the pressure is preferably regulated to 5 psi via a feedback line 85 connected with a regulator 80 from the manifold 30 and further connected to the solenoid valve 70 . This system allows for rapid inflation due to high pressure differential across the valves and piping.
- a check valve 90 is preferably positioned in an inflation line from the solenoid valve 70 at the manifold 30 .
- the solenoid valve 70 shifts from pressure to vacuum, the air is held within the manifold 30 by this check valve 90 . In this manner, the vacuum can be applied rapidly to the valve 50 to open it sooner. Without the check valve 90 , there would be a potential delay as the pressure dropped enough to trigger the valve 50 .
- a case packing apparatus for loading articles into a case may include: a conveyor for conveying articles toward the case; two or more airbags 20 positioned above the case; a manifold 30 connecting the airbags 20 ; a vacuum reservoir 40 positioned in fluid communication with the manifold 30 ; a vacuum pump 60 connected with respect to the vacuum reservoir 40 ; a supply 35 of compressed gas positioned in fluid communication with the manifold 30 ; a valve 50 positioned between the vacuum reservoir 40 and the manifold 30 ; a check valve 90 positioned between the valve 50 and the manifold 30 ; a solenoid valve 70 positioned between the diaphragm valve 50 , the supply 35 and the vacuum reservoir 40 ; and a feedback line 85 positioned between the manifold 30 and the supply 35 .
- the combined pressure must be less than atmospheric pressure for the airbags to be fully deflated. Note that a strong vacuum requires a smaller reservoir and a weak vacuum requires a larger reservoir.
- a test rig was constructed and it was found that when using 9 air bags, deflation can occur in approximately 160 ms. This indicates a flow rate through the diaphragm valve into the reservoir of around 130 cfm, while the vacuum pump is pumping around 14 cfm continuously.
- Existing systems using a Venturi pump would deflate these same bags in almost 3 seconds while consuming roughly ten times the horsepower.
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Vacuum Packaging (AREA)
Abstract
Description
where,
Pb=Pressure in air bags
Vb=Volume of air bags
Pr=Pressure in reservoir
Vr=Volume of reservoir
Pc=Combined Pressure.
The required vacuum pump flow rate can be calculated with the following formula:
where,
t=cycle time
q=volumetric flow rate.
Claims (14)
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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US16/103,961 US11401064B2 (en) | 2017-08-16 | 2018-08-16 | Air transfer bag deflator |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
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US201762546385P | 2017-08-16 | 2017-08-16 | |
US16/103,961 US11401064B2 (en) | 2017-08-16 | 2018-08-16 | Air transfer bag deflator |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
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US20190135465A1 US20190135465A1 (en) | 2019-05-09 |
US11401064B2 true US11401064B2 (en) | 2022-08-02 |
Family
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Family Applications (1)
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US16/103,961 Active 2039-07-13 US11401064B2 (en) | 2017-08-16 | 2018-08-16 | Air transfer bag deflator |
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US (1) | US11401064B2 (en) |
Families Citing this family (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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ITUB20160440A1 (en) * | 2016-01-28 | 2017-07-28 | Unitec Spa | TRANSFER GROUP OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS, AND ITS PROCEDURE. |
CN113086631A (en) * | 2021-05-07 | 2021-07-09 | 时金效 | Intelligent stacking system and method for fragile and fragile articles of logistics base station |
Citations (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4709536A (en) | 1987-01-28 | 1987-12-01 | Hartness International, Inc. | Article transport apparatus |
US4835946A (en) * | 1987-01-28 | 1989-06-06 | Hartness International | Article transport apparatus |
US20130102772A1 (en) * | 2011-07-15 | 2013-04-25 | Cardinal Health 414, Llc | Systems, methods and devices for producing, manufacturing and control of radiopharmaceuticals-full |
-
2018
- 2018-08-16 US US16/103,961 patent/US11401064B2/en active Active
Patent Citations (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4709536A (en) | 1987-01-28 | 1987-12-01 | Hartness International, Inc. | Article transport apparatus |
US4835946A (en) * | 1987-01-28 | 1989-06-06 | Hartness International | Article transport apparatus |
US20130102772A1 (en) * | 2011-07-15 | 2013-04-25 | Cardinal Health 414, Llc | Systems, methods and devices for producing, manufacturing and control of radiopharmaceuticals-full |
Non-Patent Citations (1)
Title |
---|
GELISIM (http://gelisimvalf.com.tr/en/use-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-valves/; article titled "Use Advantages and Disadvantages of Valves", posted Apr. 23, 2013). (Year: 2013). * |
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US20190135465A1 (en) | 2019-05-09 |
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